Tool Wear: Meaning, Types and

Causes | Metal Cutting

 Meaning of Tool Wear:

• Cutting tools are subjected to an extremely

severe rubbing process. They are in metal-to-
metal contact between the chip and work
piece, under high stress and temperature.
• The situation becomes severe due to the
existence of extreme stress and temperature
gradients near the surface of the tool.
• Tool wear is generally a gradual process due
to regular operation.
• Tool wear can be compare with the wear of
the tip of an ordinary pencil.
• Tool wear can be defined as “The change of
shape of the tool from its original shape,
during cutting, resulting from the gradual loss
of tool material”.
 Tool wear depends upon following
parameters
• i. Tool and work piece material.
• ii. Tool shape.
• iii. Cutting Speed.
• iv. Feed.
• v. Depth of cut.
• vi. Cutting fluid used.
• vii. Machine Tool characteristics etc.
 Tool wear affects following items
• i. Increases cutting forces.
• ii. Increases cutting temperature.
• iii. Decreases accuracy of produced parts.
• iv. Decreases tool life.
• v. results in Poor surface finish.
• vi. Influences the Economics of cutting
operations.
• Types of Tool Wear:
• The high contact stresses are developed in machining
process due to rubbing action of:
• (i) Tool rake face and chips.
• (ii) Tool flank face and machined surface.
• These results in a variety of wear patterns observed at
the rake face and the flank face. We call this gradual
wear of the tool.
• The gradual wear is unavoidable but controllable. It is
the wear which cannot be prevented. It has to occur
after certain machining time.
• The gradual wear can be controlled by remedial action.
The gradual wear can be divided into two basic types
of wear, corresponding to two regions in the cutting
tool as shown in Fig. 9.16.
• These are following:
• (i) Flank wear.
• (ii) Crater wear.
• Reasons of Crater Wear:
• i. Severe abrasion between the chip-tool interfaces, specially on
rake face.
• ii. High temperature in the tool-chip interface.
• iii. Increase in feed results in increased force acting on tool
interface, this leads to rise in temperature of tool-chip interface.
• iv. Increase in cutting speed results in increased chip velocity at rake
face, this leads to rise in temperature at chip-tool interface and so
increase in crater wear.
• Remedies for Crater Wear:
• i. Use of proper lubricants, can decrease the abrasion process, and
so decrease in crater wear.
• ii. Proper coolant for rapid heat dissipation from tool-chip interface.
• iii. Reduced cutting speeds and feed rates.
• iv. Use tougher and hot hardness materials for tools.
• v. Use positive rake tool.
• Forms of Tool Wear:
• Flank and crater wear are very common type of wears.
• Some other forms of tool wear are:
• (i) Thermo-Electric Wear.
• (ii) Thermal Cracking and Tool Fracture.
• (iii) Cyclic Thermal and Mechanical Load Wear.
• (iv) Edge Chipping.
• (v) Entry or Exit Failures.
• (i) Thermo-Electric Wear:
• It can be observed in high temperature region. The high temperature results in the formation of thermal-couple between the work piece and the tool.
• Due to this effect voltage established between the work piece and tool. It may cause an electric current flow between the two. However, this type of wear has not been clearly
developed.
• (ii) Thermal Cracking and Tool Fracture:
• It is common in case of milling operation. In milling, tools are subjected to cyclic thermal and mechanical loads. Teeth may fail by a mechanism not observed in continuous cutting.
Thermal cracking can be reduced by reducing the cutting speed or by using a tool material grade with a higher thermal shock resistance.
• (iii) Cyclic Thermal and Mechanical Load Wear:
• The cyclic variation in temperature in milling process induce cyclic thermal stress at the surface layer of the tool expands and contracts. It may leads to the formation of thermal fatigue
cracks near the cutting edge.
• Mostly, such cracks are perpendicular to the cutting edge and begin formation at the outer corner of the tool, spreading inward as cutting progresses. The growth of these cracks
eventually leads to edge chipping or tool breakage. An insufficient coolant can promote crack formation.
• (iv) Edge Chipping:
• Edge chipping is commonly observed in milling operation. It may occur when the tool first contacts the part (Entry Failure) or, more commonly, when it exits the part (Exit Failure).
• (v) Entry or Exit Failures:
• Entry failure most commonly occurs when the outer corner of the insert strikes the part first. This is more likely to occur when the cutter rake angles are positive. Entry failure is therefore
most easily prevented by switching from positive to negative rake angle cutters.
• Consequences (Effects) of Tool Wear:
• The effects of the tool wear on technological performance are following:
• (i) Increase in Cutting Forces:
• The cutting forces are normally increased by wear of the tool. Crater wear, flank wear (or wear land formation) and chipping of cutting edge affect performance of the cutting tool in
various ways. Crater wear may, however under certain circumstances, reduce forces by effectively increasing the rake angle of the tool. Clearance face (Flank or wear-land) wear and
chipping almost invariably increase the cutting forces due to increased rubbing forces.
• (ii) Increase in Surface Roughness:
• As the tool wear increases, the surface roughness of machined component also increases. This is particularly true for a tool worn by chipping .Although, there are circumstances, in which
a wear land may burnish (polish) the work piece and produce a good finish.
• (iii) Increase in Vibration or Chatter:
• Vibration or chatter is an another important aspect of the cutting process which may be influenced by tool wear.
• A wear land increases the tendency of a tool to dynamic instability or vibrations. When the tool is sharp, the cutting operation is quite free of vibrations. On the other hand, when the tool
wears, the cutting operation is subjected to an unacceptable vibration and chatter mode.
• (iv) Decreases in Dimensional Accuracy:
• Due to flank wear, the plan geometry of a tool may disturb. This may affect the dimensions of the component produced. It may